Chair arm constructions



May 28, 1963 H. FLEISCHER CHAIR ARM CONSTRUCTIONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 28. 1960 Kiri; .il ll INVENTOR. r92 4 V 1 26756751? A/f'dP/VEY y 8, 1963 H. FLEISCH ER 3,091,495

CHAIR ARM CONSTRUCTIONS Filed Dec. 28, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

IN VEN TOR AE/l/EX FzAVJQVA-D? United States Patent Ofiice 3 ,091,495 Patented May 28, 1963 3,091,495 CHAIR ARM CONSTRUCTIONS Henry Fleischer, North Bellmore, N.Y., assignor to Finkel Outdoor Products, Inc, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 28, 19in), Ser. No. 79,044 Claims. (Cl. 297116) This invention relates to chairs, chaise longues, and other such items of furniture, and particularly to the arms thereof.

In the following specification, the term chair will be understood to include both chairs and chaises.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an arm construction for chairs and other such items of furniture, which construction is adapted to provide a stable support for drinking glasses, ash trays, or other objects.

An additional object of the invention is to provide such an arm construction in which an arm member is arranged to be moved from the usual arm position to a position for supporting glasses, ash trays and other objects, and whenever desired back to the usual arm position, and the arm member is arranged to be locked in either such position.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description thereof.

The chair arm construction of the present invention comprises a tubular member and a tubular supporting member mounted for pivotal movement on the tubular member, the supporting member in one position forming the front end of the chair and in another position providing a supporting surface on the chair arm. In the vertical position the tubular members of the arm construction present an attractive arm appearance, and in the horizontal position the tubular supporting member projects laterally from the chair arm and provides a support for drinking glasses, ashtrays, or similar objects.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application and showing, for purposes of exemplification, preferred forms of this invention without limiting the claimed invention to such illustrative forms:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a chair embodying the arm construction of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view, enlarged relative to FIG- URE 1 and partially in section, of the chair arm shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view, similar to FIGURE 2, showing glass, ashtray or other object-supporting member of the chair arm in a horizontal position;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary elevation of the chair arm, shown partially in section, with the supporting member of the arm in the vertical position, and showing the pivotal connections of the upper ends of the legs of the chair to the arm; and

FIGURE 5 is a section taken along the line 5-5 in FIGURE 4.

Referring to FIGURE 1, a chair 11 is shown having opposed U-shaped supporting legs 12 and 13 and an L- shaped frame 14 connected thereto, as conventional, to permit the chair to be folded or collapsed. The frame 14, as conventional, includes a seat .15 and a back 16 which may be of any known material, including natural or synthetic fabrics. A pair of arms 17 and 18 are connected to the frame 14 and the supporting legs 12 and '13, for example, by conventional pivotal connections.

As shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, the arm 17 comprises a first hollow tubular member 19 and a second hollow tubular member 21 positioned in side by side relation 2 and held together by any desired means, such as by rivets or the like. The member 21 is outermost with respect to the body of the chair, and will accordingly hereinafter be referred to as the outer tubular meembe-r. A tubular supporting member 22 is mounted for pivotal movement on the outer tubular member 21. The front end 20 of the supporting member 22 is bent to form desirably a substantially closed ring, as shown in the drawings. The tubular member 19 has its front end similarly bent, to provide an arm consisting of two side by side tubes with the front ends pleasingly curved, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 3. Bending of the tubular stock from which such arm is produced to form the arm shown necessarily flattens the opposite surfaces of the tubular stock, 'such as the opposed surfaces 23 and 24 of the supporting member 22, and forms the fluted or concave appearance at the front of the arm, as clearly shown in FIGURE 2.

The tubular member 19 and the supporting member 22 have turned or rounded ends 25 which are preferably positioned adjacent the tubular members 19 and 22, respectively. The rounded ends 25 may abut the horizontally extending tubular members 19 and 22, or a clearance or space may be provided between these ends and the tubular portion of the arms provided, of course, that the clearance or space is not so large as to interfere with the glass or other article supporting function of the supporting member 22. The opening in the front end of this member is so dimensioned as to permit insertion and close fitting support of a glass 26 (see FIGURE 1), ashtray, or other desired object therein.

One end of the outer tubular member 21 is pivotally secured to the chair frame 14 and a sleeve 27 is fixedly mounted in the opposite end 21' thereof. An end 27 of the sleeve 27 protrudes outward of the end 21 of the tubular member and a tubular extension 22 of the supporting member 242 is pivotally mounted on the protruding end 27. In the structure shown in FIGURE 2 of the drawings, the end 21' of the outer tubular member 21 abuts the end of the tubular extension 22' of the supporting member 22, as indicated at 28 (FIGURE 2) at approximately the transverse median of the sleeve 27.

A detent 29 is mounted in an aperture 31 in the sleeve 27 for locking the tubular extension 22 in either of the aforementioned positions with respect to the sleeve 27 and the outer tubular member 21. For this purpose, the extension 22' has the apertures 32 and 33 spaced about apart, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, dimensioned to receive the detent 29. The detent is urged outwardly by a leaf spring 34 housed within the sleeve 27. The detent passes through the aperture 31 in the sleeve 27 arranged to be aligned with the apertures 32 and 33 as the supporting member 22 is pivoted into either of its two positions.

As best shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, the leg 12 is pivotally connected by links 35 and pin 36 to the tubular member-19; the links are pivotally mounted on a pin 37 passing through the tubular member 19, or otherwise suitably attached thereto. The leg 13 is similarly pivotally connected to the tubular member 19 by means of links 35 and pins 36 and 37.

In order to move the supporting member 22 from the vertical to the horizontal position, the detent 29 is manually depressed and the member 22 is then pivoted into the horizontal plane, as shown in FIGURE 3. In this position the detent 29 engages with and locks in the aperture 33 in the supportuig member extension 22'. In order to pivot the supporting member 22 back into the vertical position, the detent 29 is again depressed and the member 22 is pivoted into the vertical plane, best shown in FIGURE 4. In the latter position, the detent 29 engages with and locks in the aperture 32 in the" extension 22, thus locking the supporting member 22 in the vertical position adjacent to and aligned with the tubular member 19.

The arm 18 may be the same as arm 17, or may consist of two tubular members 19 in side by side relation, neither of which involves the pivoting arm construction provided by the assembly of the sleeve 27 and the supporting mem-; ber 22.

It will be noted that the present invention provides a chair arm construction, in which at least one arm has a supporting member adapted to be disposed in at least one of two positions, in one of which the supporting member is adapted and designed to hold a glass, ashtray, or other object and in the other of which it forms a part of the front portion of the arm, and in this latter position results in an arm of attractive appearance. Notwithstanding the supporting function of the chair arm construction when in the said one position, no unsightly bulges or the like mar the attractive appearance of the chair arm; on the contrary, the attractive appearance is enhanced by this configuration of the chair arm.

Since different embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A chair arm construction comprising, in combination, a pair of tubular members in side by side relation, one of said members being bent at its front end to form a substantially closed ring, a tubular sleeve fixedly mounted on the other of said tubular members, a tubular supporting member mounted for pivotal movement on said sleeve, said supporting member being bent at its front end to form a substantially closed ring, locking means on said sleeve and means on said supporting member for engaging said locking means to position said supporting member in one of two predetermined positions, in the first of which positions said closed ring at the forward end of said supporting member is disposed in a substantially vertical plane and in the second of which said closed ring is positioned in a substantial horizontal plane.

2. A chair arm construction comprising, in combination, a pair of tubular members in side by side relation, one of said tubular members being bent at its front end to form a substantially closed ring terminating at a point adjacent the underside of said one tubular member, a

tubular sleeve fixedly mounted on the other of said tubular members, a tubular supporting member mounted for pivotal movement at its back end on said sleeve, said supporting member being bent at its front end to form a substantially closed ring terminating at a point adjacent the underside of the supporting member, a detent extending through said sleeve spring-biased toward said supporting member for engaging said supporting member, a pair of apertures in said supporting member spaced substantially 90 radially of one another for receiving said detent to position and lock said supporting member in one of two predetermined positions, in the first of which positions the substantially closed ring at the front end of said supporting member is disposed in a substantially vertical plane 4 and is aligned with the substantially closed ring at the front end of said one tubular member, and in the second of which positions the closed ring at the front end of said supporting member is disposed in a substantially horizontal plane for supporting objects thereon.

3. A chair comprising, in combination, a chair frame, a pair of legs supporting said frame, a pair of chair arms secured to said legs, at least one of said arms including a pair of tubular members in side by side relation forming an inner and outer tubular member and a tubular supporting member constituted of a tubular mounting portion and a supporting portion, with the end of the tubular mounting portion remote from said supporting portion mounted for pivotal movement on said outer tubular member, said supporting port-ion in one position defining a portion of the front end of the chair arm and in another position providing a supporting surface on said chair arm.

4. A chair arm construction comprising, in combination, a tubular member extending in a generally longitudinal direction relative to the direction of extent of said arm and terminating in an end positioned short of the front end of said arm, a tubular supporting member constituted of a tubular mounting portion and a supporting portion, the tubular mounting portion having its axis in longitudinal alignment with said tubular member and having one end mounted for pivotal movement on the said end of said tubular member positioned short of the front end of said arm, said supporting portion being carried by the opposite end of said mounting portion and defining a portion of the front end of the chair arm in one position of said tubular supporting member, said supporting portion being movable to a second position disposed in a substantially horizontal plane where it provides a supporting surface for an object. A 5. A chair arm construction comprising, in combination, a pair of tubular members in side by side relation, one of which defines an outer side of said chair arm, said pair of tubular members extending in a generally longitudinal direction relative to the direction of extent of said arm, and said tubular member defining the outer side of said chair arm terminating in a supporting end position'ed short of the front end of said arm, a tubular supporting member having a tubular mounting portion and a supporting portion contiguous to one end thereof, the other end of said tubular mounting portion being mounted'for pivotal movement on said supporting end of said outer tubular member, said supporting member, when the said supporting portion thereof is in a substantially vertical plane, defining a portion of the front end of the chair arm, and when in a substantially horizontal plane providing a supporting surface on said chair arm for objects placed on said supporting portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,500,524 

1. A CHAIR ARM CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A PAIR OF TUBULAR MEMBERS IN SIDE BY SIDE RELATION, ONE OF SAID MEMBERS BEING BENT AT ITS FRONT END TO FORM A SUBSTANTIALLY CLOSED RING, A TUBULAR SLEEVE FIXEDLY MOUNTED ON THE OTHER OF SAID TUBULAR MEMBERS, A TUBULAR SUPPORTING MEMBER MOUNTED FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT ON SAID SLEEVE, SAID SUPPORTING MEMBER BEING BENT AT ITS FRONT END TO FORM A SUBSTANTIALLY CLOSED RING, LOCKING MEANS ON SAID SLEEVE AND MEANS ON SAID SUPPORTING MEMBER FOR ENGAGING SAID LOCKING MEANS TO POSITION SAID SUPPORTING MEMBER IN ONE OF TWO PREDETERMINED POSITIONS, IN THE FIRST OF WHICH POSITIONS SAID CLOSED RING AT THE FORWARD END OF SAID SUPPORTING MEMBER IS DISPOSED IN A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL PLANE AND IN THE SECOND OF WHICH SAID CLOSED RING IS POSITIONED IN A SUBSTANTIAL HORIZONTAL PLANE. 